Blood Redemption
by Emily Eccentric
Summary: Spike comes back from the grave only to find himself in the center of a tangled web of otherworldly horror. Can he save his true love and himself in the process? Spuffy, Fredley. Rated T for violence and slight language.
1. Prologue: Ashes to Ashes

BLOOD REDEMPTION

PROLOGUE: ASHES TO ASHES

Nothing was left but the ashes.

The charred skeletons of the buildings made desolate shadows against the starless sky. No wind blew across the ruins to stir the cinders.

There was a sharp clash of metal as a black boot kicked aside a warped tin sign. _Welcome To Sunnydale! _The rest of the message had been twisted into illegibility by fire.

"'S all bloody ashes now, isn't it? I shouldn't be here…I'm not supposed to…I should-"

"You can't leave now!" a voice crooned. "We haven't finished our game."

Drusilla gazed into the unreadable expression of Spike. Her hands were on his face as though to keep his attention.

Spike pulled away. He was laughing, a tragic, unbidden sound.

"You're not real," he said, his back turned to her. "None of this is real. I'm not supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to come back."

"Things that aren't real are far lovelier than things that are. Truth is rather like sunshine. At first it's pretty, and then your eyes start to sizzle."

"I have to leave," Spike said, pushing her beckoning hand away from him. "She doesn't know. I don't have time for this. I'm late. Late for the party."

"Well, if I were you, I'd stop yapping and hurry the hell up!"

Surprised by Dru's sudden change of tone (and, even more unsettling, voice), Spike whirled around and saw Glory standing there, wearing a ridiculously glittery red dress and chomping on a piece of gum.

"Cos it's true. It is coming for her. More like waiting, really."

She yawned, blew a pink bubble, and popped it.

"Gotta soul, huh? That's gotta suck."

"It hurts," Spike replied. A flicker of pain clouded over his face and then quickly faded away. "Sodding hell, it hurts. But I'm better now. She thinks I'm better."

Glory gave a high pitched giggle. "You are sooo stupid! You haven't figured it out yet, have ya? She doesn't give a dancin' damn what happens to you. She's a Slayer, and you're, well, a Slay_ee._"

She sat down on a crumbling pillar that might have been a telephone pole once-upon-a-time. She ignored Spike ignoring her.

"Some people are suckers for the whole unrequited love thing. I've never been one of them. Instead of pining under the moonlight, I strangle them with their own spines. I find it just as satisfying."

Spike turned and stared at her blankly over his shoulder. It was like seeing someone dressed in a cheap Halloween costume. Something else, something dark and ancient and hungry, was hiding behind that smug grin.

"You know what I'm talking about, right?" continued Glory, examining her nails. "You used to be a Big Bad. Before you went all effulgent on us."

"That's all over," Spike murmured. "Everything's over."

"You're wrong there!" exclaimed Glory in a completely different voice. Spike looked up. It was Buffy, wearing a white shirt and a pale blue coat. She was kneeling beside him.

"None of it's over. You can move on. You can win. You can blow up the whole town if you want. But every time you turn around, something else'll just be waiting to tear you to shreds."

She smiled. "Pretty funny, huh?"

Spike placed a hand on her shoulder. "Buffy," he said in a voice barely above a whisper, "I have to tell you. It's waiting."

"Pfft. You can't help me now." Her grin grew wider. "It'll eat you alive."

Buffy laughed delightedly. Spike buried his face in his hands. The pain in his head was becoming intolerable. The voices came in torrents, lapsing into each other like images in a dream or faces in an old memory.

The ashes rose around him and danced in the thick, smoky air. He looked down at the thirsty ground and began to sing. It was an old song, one that reminded him of blue skies and fires and blood. It was sung in a tuneless way that invited all the voices in his head to join in boundless merriment.

_"Oh, don't decieve me, oh, never leave me. How could you use a poor maiden so?"_


	2. Housewarming Part One

**BLOOD REDEMPTION**

**EPISODE ONE: HOUSEWARMING**

Buffy stared into the pancake batter contemplatively. Her eyes were distant. She was a thousand miles away from the tiny suburban house.

_We've lived here three months now._

As time passed, Buffy had more and more days when she didn't think about Sunnydale at all. Didn't think about the flames. The nightmares. All the moves she could've made. All the things she could have did.

But she couldn't forget _him. _God, she wished she could. But she couldn't.

"Buffy? Uh, hello?"

Buffy started and looked up. It was Xander.

"You know, you still look weird in a business suit. Even more so with the eyepatch," she said.

"Okay, I'm a little overdressed for my fairly uneventful job shelving books at the library. But I thought, 'hey!' If it worked for Giles it can work for me!"

He shook out the shoulders a little and smiled. "Besides, I can't help it. I'm addicted to the suit. It makes me feel all professional-like."

"Yeah, the Doctor No look really says, 'hey, that guy's really not a dork'," Willow joked as she jogged down the stairs. "I'm taking Dawn to school, right?"

"Please and thank you," Buffy replied.

"Only until I get my driver's license!" Dawn interrupted as she followed the redheaded witch down the stairs.

"Yes, then you can wreak havoc on _other _drivers," said Buffy, spooning the pancake batter onto the griddle.

Dawn sighed disgustedly and pulled a denim jacket hanging on the back of a nearby chair. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm an excellent driveway."

"Dawn, you ran over the mailbox. Four times," Buffy sighed.

"Uh, Buf?" Xander said nervously. "Did the Bisquick box say the pancakes were supposed to be on fire like that?"

"Oh, dammit!" Buffy cried. She took a towel and proceeded to beat out the flames, effectively causing them to consume the entire stovetop.

Someone came up behind her and doused the blazing oven with a fire extinguisher.

"Honestly, did I not teach you anything?"

Buffy whirled around, grinning. "Giles!"

She gave him a quick hug. "You're back pretty early. I thought you were in New York, being scolded by other stodgy British guys."

An expression of deep worry clouded Giles's face. Then it was gone as quickly as it had come. He took off his glasses and polished them vacantly as he spoke.

"Yes, well…there were certain circumstances that…"

Buffy rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, calm down. Don't have a stress fest on me. Help me salvage these pancakes?"

She handed him a pancake turner with a hopeful smile. Giles frowned and set it back on the counter.

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I can't stay and chat. I'm needed at the Watcher's Council…"

"Oh…" Buffy said, her face falling. "That's okay." She tried to seem more upbeat. "Come by for dinner, alright? We're having Shake 'n Bake!"

"A culinary delight, I'm sure," he said, returning her half-hearted smile to the best of his ability. "I'll be sure to drop by."

"Bye!" Willow said from the doorway. "We're off for an adventure in education!"

"Woohoo," Dawn grumbled.

Dawn looked up from where she was slumped on her desk and cast a hopeful glance at the clock. She moaned. Four hours to go.

"Hello students," a voice said in monotone. Dawn glanced toward the front of the room. A short, balding man with an odd bowtie and tiny spectacles was drumming his fingers together in an annoying way.

"Welcome to Autumn Falls High School. We are thrilled to have you partake in our learning expedition."

He raised one finger skyward officiously.

"But. If you're learning expedition includes horseplay, misuse of the elevators, and or marijiuna, you will be expelled. Thank you."

He sat down at a desk and peered at them over a stack of papers.

"Now, who's ready for some algebra?"


End file.
